Which Is More Dangerous: Boxing Or MMA?

MMA injuries

Unlike boxing, MMA fighters are allowed to use different fighting styles — like punching, kicking and grappling holds — to knock their opponent out or get him to give up. Mixed martial arts include one or more of the following fighting styles: Muay Thai (a type of Thai boxing), judo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, kickboxing, karate and variations of these. Oh — and boxing. Injuries suffered by MMA fighters include head trauma, musculoskeletal stress, joint dislocation and soft tissue trauma.

In 2008, the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine published a study of injuries sustained during sanctioned mixed martial arts competitions. According to their findings, the most common reported injuries were lacerations and upper extremity injuries. Because of all the holds, slams, throws, and takedowns in MMA, lacerations to the body are the most common injuries reported by fighters to the Nevada Athletic Commission. Among these, the most frequent injuries are broken bones. These types of injuries occur often in the UFC octagon.

Injuries to the head are also frequent in mixed martial arts. Eye injuries, face cuts and face lacerations are all part of the sport.

There have been two recorded deaths in mixed martial arts. Douglas Dedge died in 1998 after a fight on an unregulated card in Kiev, Ukraine, and Sam Vasquez died from injuries sustained in a 2007 fight in Houston.

Georges St-Pierre knocks out Jay Hieron

and the winner (?) is...

According to the Johns Hopkins study, head trauma and cerebral hemorrhages are the No. 1 cause of death in combat sports. The study concludes that boxing is the most dangerous combat sport in America.

That conclusion should not surprise fans who understand and appreciate the sport. Research in the American Association of Neurological Surgeons' 2006 study pointed out that the average direct hit to the head that a boxer sustains is equivalent to being hit with a 12-pound wooden mallet traveling at around 20 miles per hour.

It doesn’t take a doctor to understand why 12 rounds of hard hits to the head can cause serious damage to a boxer’s brain, skull and the surrounding blood-vessels. In contrast, only 25% of MMA fights continued, without knockouts, to their end without knockouts, which in the UFC, the premier MMA brand, occurs at only 3 rounds for non-championship fights and 5 rounds for title fights.

So the next time you watch an MMA event, consider that when a fighter is knocked out, the fight is over. In boxing events, fighters that are knocked out get a standing eight count, and their opponent continues to inflict blows to the fighter’s already damaged head.